Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd

I’ve always been a Floyd fan, so when I watched The Wall, I was gladdened to hear them singing this. But what do I actually think of this song? Is there anything specific, or is it all a bit hazy, like a ship’s smoke on the horizon?

Well, I adore this song with a passion. It’s got to the point where I can safely say that this song is spectacularly brilliant. It’s astounding. You have so much fun when listening to it, that time is fleeting. If you don’t listen to it, madness can take it’s toll, so you have to listen closely. And all that jazz…

Well, here at the That Guy mobile office (which takes the rough size of about 5′ 10″ tall, 32″ in diameter and is currently placed directly underneath a flexible Stetson), we’re massive fans of this song and have been playing The Wall (album, rather than film) since my review of Jessica. That’s a long time. I cope though, living with the madness of lyrics blaring in my head.

Back to the review.For the most part, the song is relaxed, msotly because it’s about a drug induced singer (from what I understand) and as such he’s pretty relaxed. The repetition of some words, for example, ‘Hello’, helps to pass on the message that this is man of such low levels of activity, that he could mistaken for a corpse. The whole, ‘When I was a child, I had a fever, my hands felt just like, two balloons, now I’ve got that feeling once again…’ helps to show that he is physically incapable of doing anything. The whole thing about the pinprick (‘Aaaaaaaaaaaah’) works quite well, helping to show that it is, in fact, a conversational song, with singer and manager discussing, although slowly, the need for the former to get on stage. The verses are the manager, as heard by the singer, with the chorus being the singer, from his own persepctive.

The whole title bases itself on drug use, as being numb is usually bad, but it’s bad in a comfortable way.

Now we come to the secondary matter. The music. It’s calm, focussed and VERY spacey, by which I mean, it doesn’t vary much, unless you refer to the end of chorus guitar sections. They’re very energetic. Much like some drug users I’ve been made aware of. It’s all very simple to follow and enjoy. I like that.

My favourite lyrics? It has to be:

‘I have become, Comfortably Numb’

A simple line, but effective none-the-less. Especially in the manner in which it is sang here. I like it. A lot. So should you. Go on. Like it. Like it good…

The video pretty much follows the idea I stated above, working well with the music, whilst also adding a sense of urgency to everything. The manager rushes in. He reaches the singer with haste. It’s pretty much backing up everything I’m saying.

I have to score it now, but it’s going to be lower than you’d expect. It’s got to the point where I am now considering trephining to remove my Pink Floyd headache. The Pink Floyd headache that I’ve caused myself to suffer from. The Pink Floyd head which put me in a foul bloody mood and is giving this score a: